Three 2012 Picture Books

The Goldilocks Variations. Allan Ahlberg. Illustrated by Jessica Ahlberg. 2012. Candlewick. 40 pages.

For anyone who enjoys The Three Little Bears will enjoy this oh-so-creative book of variations by Allan Ahlberg. (This may just be my favorite Ahlberg title!) Some of the offerings include: "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," "Goldilocks and the 33 Bears," "Goldilocks and the Bliim," "Goldilocks and the Furniture," "Goldilocks The Play," "Goldilocks and...Everybody," and "Goldilocks...Alone?" The language is fun and playful and just right.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears begins,

"There was once a cheeky girl. Her name, or nickname rather, on account of her corn-colored hair, was Goldilocks. One morning, Goldilocks went for a walk in the woods, found a little cottage, climbed in through a window, and messed around for a bit. This cottage was the home of...The Three Bears." 

and it ends,

"Meanwhile, the great big father bear and the middle-size mother bear cuddled up their sad little small wee baby bear and gave him some of their porridge. And, later on, a boiled egg in his own little eggcup. Some bread and butter soldiers to dip in it. And a cup of tea. And later on still, a lovely little BUN. Bears love buns."

I really enjoyed the playfulness of Goldilocks and the 33 Bears. In part, it reads,

Well, Goldilocks sat on a great many chairs and broke most of them. She came upon a great many bowls of porridge and ate too many of them. She climbed the stairs, with her terribly bulgy tummy, flopped down onto the nearest bed--there were dozens of them--and fell asleep in it. Then...homeward came the bears! The great big father bear saw the open window. The middle-size mother bear saw the broken chairs. The tall and skinny teenage bears saw very little. They were still dawdling in the woods. The younger bears saw nothing at all. They were having a sleepover at their friend's house. The very baby bear also saw nothing. She was having a sleepover on her daddy's back. But the little small wee bears--there were two of them--saw EVERYTHING. 

That story also happily ends with buns because BEARS LOVE BUNS.

I thought Goldilocks the Play was BRILLIANT. I just LOVED it!!! The other variations were nice too. I would definitely recommend this one!!!

Read The Goldilocks Variations

• If you enjoy playful, fun variations or "fractured" fairy tales
• If you enjoy fairy tales
• If you love detailed, creative books

Cinderella: A Three-Dimensional Fairy Tale Theater. Jane Ray. 2012. Candlewick. 12 pages. 

For those that love Cinderella, this may be a must. It may also be a must for those that love intricate, delicate, detailed pop-up illustrations. Some may be fascinated by the illustrations alone. And you could definitely spend time looking at them! The text of this one is revealed by opening the curtains on each side of the stage. This probably wouldn't be a great choice for young(er) children because the pop-ups are so delicate. But for older children who still enjoy Cinderella, it would be great.

Read Cinderella

• If you love Cinderella, if you love reading different versions of the story
• If you love pop-up books, if you love detailed three-dimensional art

Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty? And Other Notorious Nursery Tale Mysteries. David Levinthal. Illustrations by John Nickle. 2012. Random House.  40 pages.


A mystery-detective themed picture book that fractures fairy tales! Tales (cases) include: Goldilocks, Hansel and Gretel, Humpty Dumpty, Snow White, and Jack and the Beanstalk. The narrator (a frog) is a cop named Binky. These are his cases, all of them solved. The book was silly, and for those looking to introduce little ones to the genre of detective stories (finding clues, solving cases, questioning witnesses, etc.) it would be a good fit.

Read Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty?

• If you enjoy fractured fairy tales
• If you love mystery and detective stories

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews